Published: Monday, October 7, 2013 at 2:54 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, October 7, 2013 at 2:54 p.m.

Police say a man trying to take a suspicious briefcase through a security checkpoint at the Henderson County Courthouse on North Grove Street in Hendersonville caused a bomb scare just before lunchtime Monday.

The courthouse security team intercepted the briefcase, which was wrapped in clear plastic tape with a note attached, as the man was going through the checkpoint, said Maj. Frank Stout of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office. The briefcase was later opened and investigators found a tape recorder wrapped in thick, heavy plastic, he said.

Stout said the man was trying to deliver the briefcase to a specific office in the courthouse, but Stout declined to say which one. The man did not make any threats, Stout said, and told courthouse officers what was supposedly inside the briefcase. But an X-ray of the package was “inconclusive.”

“Just the way it was packaged, our officers felt it was suspicious in nature,” Stout said. “In the interest of safety, we called in the bomb team to determine what exactly was in the package. We couldn’t take any chances.”

After evacuating the courthouse, the Henderson County Bomb Squad used a robot to remove the briefcase and placed it in a wheeled containment chamber. Stout said the suspicious package was driven to a “remote location,” where it could be opened and examined without potential harm to the public.

Appraisal Specialist Kim Woody was in the break room of the Henderson County Courthouse around 12:30 p.m. when police officers came in and ordered her and her office mates in the Tax Office to evacuate the building.

Employees and visitors with court dates were told they would have to be out of the building for 45 minutes to an hour.

Woody’s colleague, Kathy Johnson, grabbed her lukewarm lunch out of the microwave and headed out the door.

“We were in the parking lot and we ate there, and then they shooed us (farther) away,” Johnson said.

Johnson, Woody and other co-workers eventually found a place to wait out the bomb scare at the Salvation Army on 4th Avenue.

City and county police cordoned off a perimeter around the courthouse and moved most employees to a safe area at the lower parking deck.

The courthouse reopened about 3:15 p.m., according to a courthouse official.

<p>Police say a man trying to take a suspicious briefcase through a security checkpoint at the Henderson County Courthouse on North Grove Street in Hendersonville caused a bomb scare just before lunchtime Monday.</p><p>The courthouse security team intercepted the briefcase, which was wrapped in clear plastic tape with a note attached, as the man was going through the checkpoint, said Maj. Frank Stout of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office. The briefcase was later opened and investigators found a tape recorder wrapped in thick, heavy plastic, he said.</p><p>Stout said the man was trying to deliver the briefcase to a specific office in the courthouse, but Stout declined to say which one. The man did not make any threats, Stout said, and told courthouse officers what was supposedly inside the briefcase. But an X-ray of the package was “inconclusive.”</p><p>“Just the way it was packaged, our officers felt it was suspicious in nature,” Stout said. “In the interest of safety, we called in the bomb team to determine what exactly was in the package. We couldn't take any chances.”</p><p>After evacuating the courthouse, the Henderson County Bomb Squad used a robot to remove the briefcase and placed it in a wheeled containment chamber. Stout said the suspicious package was driven to a “remote location,” where it could be opened and examined without potential harm to the public. </p><p>Appraisal Specialist Kim Woody was in the break room of the Henderson County Courthouse around 12:30 p.m. when police officers came in and ordered her and her office mates in the Tax Office to evacuate the building.</p><p>Employees and visitors with court dates were told they would have to be out of the building for 45 minutes to an hour. </p><p>Woody's colleague, Kathy Johnson, grabbed her lukewarm lunch out of the microwave and headed out the door. </p><p>“We were in the parking lot and we ate there, and then they shooed us (farther) away,” Johnson said. </p><p>Johnson, Woody and other co-workers eventually found a place to wait out the bomb scare at the Salvation Army on 4th Avenue.</p><p>City and county police cordoned off a perimeter around the courthouse and moved most employees to a safe area at the lower parking deck. </p><p>The courthouse reopened about 3:15 p.m., according to a courthouse official.</p>